Nortel unveils telephony for small firms

Nortel Networks is scheduled to formally launch its internet telephony portfolio for smaller firms this week, after Computer Reseller News revealed the networking vendor would initially sell through BT in the UK market.

Nortel Networks is scheduled to formally launch its internet telephony portfolio for smaller firms this week, after Computer Reseller News revealed the networking vendor would initially sell through BT in the UK market.

Paul Templeton, product marketing director at Nortel Europe, said resellers will be given access to the product set once they are properly trained, although a Nortel source said it would not begin full engagement with the channel until at least the end of the year. UK analysts believe the vendor must embrace the channel if it is to succeed with smaller companies.

Nortel's Business Series portfolio, to be launched this week, includes the Business Communications Manager, formerly known as the Enterprise Edge, and the Business Policy Switch, which is designed to prioritise Lan traffic for quality of service.

The Business Communications Manager will be compatible with up to 80 digital, IP-based phones or soft phones. An independent media services card featuring a call processor running on embedded Windows NT will be offered for additional services, although the phone system will still function even if this fails.

Nortel said sales of communications systems to smaller firms will grow rapidly because they do not have legacy systems investments.

First published in Computer Reseller News